


lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness

by aceofdiamonds



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Peter Pan Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-07
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-03 21:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofdiamonds/pseuds/aceofdiamonds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico wakes up when something stabs his thigh. He opens his eyes to find a boy crouched at the end of his bed. A boy with messy brown hair, a green t-shirt, jeans and no shoes. Oh.  </p><p>peter pan au. sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness

**Author's Note:**

> i read peter pan last night and everything relates back to nico in my head. it ends sort of abruptly. i could add to this i think.

Nico wakes up when something stabs his thigh. He opens his eyes to find a boy crouched at the end of his bed. A boy with messy brown hair, a green t-shirt, jeans and no shoes. Oh. 

"Why are you on my bed?" he asks through a yawn. Bianca had told him to go to sleep but Batman had just found Bane and there was only six pages left in his comic so he had read it all and now the clock says it's 11pm. 

"I'm looking for my shadow," the boy says, his forehead bent into a frown. 

"I know shadows," Nico offers, spilling his secret to this boy on his bed. 

"Do you know where mine is? I lost it here."

"When?" 

"I was listening to the girl telling stories and it got caught on the window sill." The boy crosses his arms and glares at the corner of the room. The sword at his side gleams. Nico's dad says he can get his own sword for his Christmas maybe. Nico's only ten but he knows not to hope on his dad's promises. 

"Bianca's stories." 

"Yes yes, the ones about me."

Nico's eyes grow wide and he leans forward until he's nearly falling off the bed. " _You're_ Percy Jackson."

"Of course I am." Percy pushes off the floor and does a couple of laps around the ceiling. He stops over by the window, his foot balanced on the top of the wardrobe. "What's your name?" he adds as an afterthought. 

"I'm Nico di Angelo," he says, and the way Percy stares at him curiously makes him wonder if that's his name at all. 

"Angel. Huh." Percy swoops through the air until he's right in front of Nico, his nose almost touching Nico’s. He tilts his head, his eyes travelling all over Nico's face and Nico feels himself hold his breath. "Angel," Percy says again, his lips spreading into a smile. 

"I could help you find your shadow if you want," Nico says quietly. Maybe if he talks to them nicely they'll stop coming into his dreams at night, pulling him into their world. His current plan is to wait for Batman to come and take them away, he knows a lot about shadows because he has his own, but Bianca says Batman has a long list of people who need his help so he might have to wait a while. 

"Sweet!" Percy beams, all his teeth showing shiny and white. "Let's go!" 

"What, now?" Mrs O'Leary keeps watch outside his door and he was supposed to be sleeping hours ago -- he _was_ sleeping until someone came and sat on his feet -- so he can't go and tell Bianca where he's going, but the thought of an adventure makes his toes tingle and he inches forward so his sleeve brushes the hem of Percy's shirt. He's not pretending the magic will brush off onto him. Not even a little bit. 

"Yes! Come on! Are you scared?"

"No I'm not," Nico says firmly, pushing Percy in the chest so he can get out of bed. He pulls on the socks he finds on the floor and then his trainers because Bianca always tells him bare feet will make him catch a cold. He doesn't think Percy would like it if he passed that on so he keeps his mouth shut. "Where are we going?" 

"Let's check the park over there first." Percy leans out the window until only his feet are on the windowsill and points to the park across the road. "Hurry!"

Nico scrambles to the window and then doubles back for the wooden sword beneath his bed. It's nothing like the long bronze one Percy is holding but it's enough to keep the shadows at bay. Usually. After another check to make sure Nico is behind him Percy jumps from the window and darts across the sky. 

"Percy," Nico says quietly because it's 11 at night and everyone is asleep. "Percy, I can't fly." 

He blinks and Percy is in front of him again, a trail of dust following him like he's smudged the stars. "Stupid Percy," he mutters, shaking his head. "Here." He reaches into his shirt and pulls out a necklace made of string with a tiny trident dangling from it -- _that's what his father, Poseidon, uses to control the seas_ , Bianca told Nico. He clasps it between his fingers, shutting his eyes and whispering something in a language Nico doesn't know. 

"I asked my dad to help you fly," Percy says after a minute. "But you better hold my hand just in case." 

Nico climbs onto the windowsill and grabs at Percy's hand when he looks down by accident. He's _not_ scared of heights, he's ten years old, but they're six floors up and the ground is a long way away. Percy's hand is cool but sort of sweaty around his own, like maybe this is the first time he's done this. Nico closes his eyes and jumps when Percy tells him to and there’s nothing beneath his feet and there’s wind in his hair and -- and he's flying. 

"Here we go!" Percy calls, his face splitting into a grin. He pulls Nico around the lamp post at the end of the street and circles the tallest trees of the park, laughing and whooping until Nico can open his eyes long enough to smile and laugh too. The sky is full of stars and up here Nico thinks he could reach out and touch one, and then maybe wrap his hand around the moon. "Touchdown!" 

Percy darts towards the ground, his hand firm around Nico's and Nico's heart is in his mouth as the ground gets nearer and nearer before Percy stops at the last minute and leads them smoothly to the edge of the pond. 

"Wow," Nico mouths, adrenaline rushing around his body making his head spin and his legs feel a bit like jelly. "That was -- wow." 

"I think my shadow might have tried to get back home," Percy is saying, waving away Nico's thoughts with an impatient hand. Nico watches as Percy dances around the edge, peering in and then jumping back again. "It knows I hate this pond." 

"Do you come here a lot?" Because this is the park Nico comes to and he can't imagine Percy Jackson playing in it like he does. He wonders if he brings Grover the satyr and Blackjack his pet Pegasus. Nico had a cat once. He lost that the same night he lost his mother. 

"To hear the stories, I told you that. Can you talk to shadows then?" 

Nico nods, pushing down the uneasiness that's filling his chest and working its way up his throat. "They talk to me and listen when I talk back. I can move with them." Bianca never understands when he says this but Percy nods like he does, his eyes serious. 

"Could you ask mine to come back?"

"I can try." Percy nods that this is enough and then stands back like there's going to be a mess. 

Nico has never really tried asking the shadows for favours before. He usually avoids them as much as he can, squeezing his eyes tight shut as soon as the light is out and not looking in the corners, but now he takes a deep breath and reaches out into the darkness and pleads quietly to help him just this once. He feels one come closer, can feel it tugging at his sleeve, and instead of turning the other way he leans into it and repeats his request. The shadow ripples and moves away again, the whisper of its reply sinking into Nico. He breathes out slowly and then tries a smile. 

"They said it's over at the hut beside the gate," he tells Percy and Percy does that grin again where his whole face lights up. 

"Then let's go!" Percy says, threading his fingers through Nico's again and gliding through the air. They reach the gate quickly and there's the shadow skulking against the wall. Percy reaches out and grabs it while still holding Nico's hand and does a spin that takes them back across to the pond.

The shadow is putting up a half hearted struggle that makes Nico laugh. Percy finds a long blade of grass that he loops around the shadow's wrist and attaches to a tree beside the pond. The shadow crosses its arms defiantly and Percy rolls his eyes and prods at the shadow's shoulder, warning him to stay put until he takes Nico home.

"Thanks for your help, Angel," he says when Nico is back in his room. "If the shadows give you trouble just show them who's boss and if that doesn't work come find me." 

Nico flushes at the thanks. He throws his arms around Percy's waist before he can overthink it and pushes his cheek into Percy's shoulder. He smells of the sea and a little bit like magic and Nico thinks that'll be enough to keep the dark away for a few days. 

"Thank you for the adventure," he says quietly, stepping back. Percy scratches at his head like he doesn't know what just happened, a smile pulling at his lips that tells him he liked it anyway. "I hope I'll see you again." 

"I could bring you a sword next time," Percy offers, waving his own. "My brother makes the best swords in the whole sea. I'll see you around, Angel." 

"Yeah," Nico smiles. "Bye, Percy Jackson." 


End file.
